Evan Hilliard's nightcap no-hitter highlights EMCC's dominant road doubleheader baseball sweep at Hinds

RAYMOND — East Mississippi Community College scored 26 unanswered runs and capped a dominating road doubleheader sweep over Hinds with Evan Hilliard's nightcap no-hitter to earn 16-6 and 10-0 run-rule victories during Saturday's MACCC baseball action played at Joe G. Moss Field.

 

Once the visiting Lions rebounded from Hinds' six-run opening frame of the first game, they recovered nicely to keep the home-standing Eagles off the scoreboard for the rest of the afternoon. While limiting Hinds to just five hits over the last 13 combined innings of the twin bill, EMCC totaled 29 hits on the day en route to claiming the team's fourth conference sweep of the season and improving to 12-10 in league play.

 

In the scheduled nine-inning opener, the Lions answered Hinds' six-run first frame by sending 11 batters to the plate during a five-run second. EMCC took advantage of four walks and a hit batsman allowed by Hinds pitching during the bounce-back inning, while Caidan Bullard and Jack Willis contributed two-run hits in the frame to pull the visitors to within a run.

 

As third-year sophomore pitcher Ty Harden took over for Bullard on the mound, the Lions claimed the lead with two runs in the fourth inning before adding three scores two frames later to move ahead 10-6. A five-run seventh was highlighted by Sam McClinton Jr.'s bases-clearing, three-run double and a two-RBI single from Willis to extend EMCC's advantage to 15-6.

 

Bullard then led off the eighth inning with his team-leading ninth home run of the year to enable the Lions to reach the run-rule margin of 10 runs.

 

Harden, a product of West Point's Oak Hill Academy, scattered four hits with five strikeouts and just one walk over 4.1 scoreless innings to pick up his first collegiate victory. Colin Perrigin, out of New Hope High School, then earned his first collegiate save by allowing just one hit and fanning three without a walk over the final three frames.

 

Offensively for the visitors in the opening game, McClinton, Bullard and Willis paced EMCC's 17-hit team effort with four hits apiece. The trio also combined to drive in 11 runs between them in the opener.

 

Though the Lions banged out a dozen more hits in the scheduled seven-inning nightcap, Hilliard was unquestionably the standout performer of the contest. The sophomore right-hander faced just two batters over the minimum and made efficient use of 63 total pitches with 41 strikes to silence Hinds' bats over six masterful innings. In improving to 5-1 on the year with his ninth career win, Hilliard retired the first 11 hitters he faced before walking back-to-back batters in the fourth inning. The Saraland, Ala. native got a force out at third to escape the inning and then proceeded to retire the Eagles in order over the final two frames. Along with inducing nine groundouts and six flyouts, Hilliard struck out three batters during his dominant complete-game victory.

 

McClinton, EMCC's leadoff batter, capped a productive afternoon at the plate with four more hits in the nightcap to lead the Lions' 12-hit outing. The Southaven product added four singles with two runs scored in the second game to complete an 8-for-9 collective hitting effort on the day. In six trips to the plate during the opening game, McClinton also added a pair of stolen bases and earned a walk while driving in four runs.

 

Miles Mitchell, Logan Flaskamp and Hunter Russell each added two hits apiece for the Lions during the nightcap.

 

Head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions (18-27, 12-10 MACCC) return to the Scooba campus for a pair of home conference doubleheaders during the coming week. They will first play host to Northeast Mississippi on Wednesday (April 22) before welcoming Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday (April 25). Both upcoming baseball twin bills are slated for 2 p.m. first pitches at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.